Book 18 (Σ)

o)rqokraira/wn, of ships, as T 344; used also in Θ 231, 18.573 in the literal sense, of oxen. λέγει δὲ διὰ τὸ τὰς πρώιρας καὶ πρύμνας ἀνατετάσθαι, ἐκ μεταφορᾶς τῶν βοῶν, Schol. A, rightly. The oldest Greek ships, before the introduction of the beaked prow, ran up into vertical ἄφλαστα or κόρυμβα (see on I 241, O 717), which naturally suggested the comparison to a cow's horns. Cf. Helbig H. E. 157. The word, like ἐύκραιρος (Hym. Merc. 209, Aisch. Supp.300) and τανύκραιρος, both epithets of oxen, and δίκραιρος Πάν, must be referred to κέρας, while ἡμίκραιρα, Ar. Thesm.227, evidently belongs to κάρα.